


breaking free

by antoniohiggins



Series: tumblr requests (newsies) [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: (mild), Fear of Flying, M/M, Meet-Cute, Panic Attacks, i love that hc so much and i plan on doing more with it oooooooo, just rated Teen for language, mentions of tuck everlasting the musical bc i love it, photographer!spot, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 18:04:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13686948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antoniohiggins/pseuds/antoniohiggins
Summary: here's a short one-shot for an anon request on tumblr! the prompt is "I don't even know why I'm crying"i almost called this 'tuck everlasting deserved a tour' but i'm literally one of like ten people in that fandom so i didn't lmao(title is low-key from high school musical)





	breaking free

**Author's Note:**

> after posting this i realized i should've called it 'top of the world', which is a tong from tuck everlasting, but oh well

Race knew traveling was part of the job. How could he be a part of a tour without traveling across the country?

The problem was, he never really expected to have to fly anywhere. For the first year they just went across the US, going between major cities for a few weeks each, but then they reached the end of the leg and apparently Toronto was next.

Race spent the night before his flight re-packing all of his things and trying to block out the concept as much as he could. Worst of all, the ensemble of the cast wasn’t even seated with the rest of the cast and crew. Their seats were scattered across the plane and Race wouldn’t even have one of his friends to help him through it.

So when the morning flight finally came, he was disassociating as much as he could with the hope of possibly preventing a panic attack for as long as he could. And it worked surprisingly well. All he had to do was crack a few jokes about the flight being too early for him to think or needing more coffee to function and no one thought anything was out of the ordinary. He staggered along the walkway and found his seat as quickly as possible. One look down the row and his heart sank.

A window seat…of course.

He frantically shut the window screen and curled up in his seat, shoving his earbuds in and playing the softest songs he could find on his phone as he waited.

* * *

Spot was used to flying. He loved it, even. The thrill of being so far away from everyone and everything he was so used to was addicting and by-far his favorite part of his job. Being a photographer was always his dream, maybe not in the same field he was currently working in, but it would all be worth it eventually.

He had been traveling with the tour for Tuck Everlasting the musical and was in charge of taking pictures throughout, as well as during all of the performances. It was great, really, especially for someone just out of art school, but after over a year of taking pictures of the same scenes, he was honestly getting tired.

So when he boarded the plane to finally take the tour internationally, he wasn’t super thrilled, other than the fact that it had been ages since he’d been on a plane and he was trying to stay positive.

He stuffed his suitcase into the overhead compartment and slid his carry-on camera bag onto the floor in front of him and sat down in the empty seat beside someone who...really didn’t look okay.

“Hey,” Spot spoke up, gently tapping the boy beside him on the shoulder as he looked up with terrified eyes. “Sorry, I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

The boy sniffled, shifting awkwardly in his seat.

Spot quickly recognized him from the cast. He tried to stay as separated from the cast and the rest of the crew throughout the tour, but watching the same show nearly every night for a year meant he definitely recognized him.

“Antonio right? I’m Sean and, surprisingly enough, I’ve been on tour with you for a year now but it’s really nice to properly meet you,” he continued, trying to keep their conversation, or lack-there-of, as calm and casual as possible.

The airline’s safety announcements began to play through the cabin and Race’s breathing picked up tempo. Spot, thoroughly panicked himself having never really been in this sort of situation before, figured he’d try his best.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay, nothing’s gonna happen, I promise,” he reassured, leaning over to face the boy a little better, almost jumping out of his seat as Race moved one of his trembling hands to grip onto Spot’s like a lifeline.

Rather than pulling away, Spot surprised himself as he covered the Race’s hand with his own other, mumbling reassurances until the announcements had finished.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, Tony,” Spot said, plastering on a mildly enthusiastic grin. Race just rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly. He sat up straighter, shifting to food his legs up onto the seat as he brushed the fallen tears from his cheeks with his free hand.

“Yeah,” he sighed with a watery laugh to follow. “ **I don’t even know why I’m crying.** ”

As if on cue, the plane made its last turn down the runway and the engines began to whir.  
****

“Oh shit, oh fuck, fuck, _fuck_ ,” Race panicked, Spot chuckling softly as he reached over and opened up the window. Race took one look at the slowly fading ground and paled instantly. “Right, _that’s_ why.”

“C’mon,” Spot exhaled, trying to stop himself from laughing. Race whipped his head around to glare at him, only making Spot laugh harder. “Tony, it isn’t that bad, look, you’re completely fine! Look out the window, there’s really nothing to be afraid of!”

Race groaned, but did so, glancing out the window, his eyes widening instantly.

“Oh my god,” he breathed, his mouth agape and his bright blue eyes twinkling as they soared towards the clouds.

“I love flying,” Spot spoke softly, leaning towards him as he began pointing out landmarks and small details to the other.

“Okay maybe it’s not _that_ bad,” Race admitted, earning a laugh out of both of them. He sniffled, a small smile remaining on his face.  
  
They both glanced down at their hands, still intertwined and blushed deeply.

“Yeah,” Spot countered. “Not bad at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks as always for reading as well as for all of the kudos/comments/etc! they make my day and i'm always so glad to hear all of your feedback!
> 
> check me out on tumblr @tony-higgins to request a one-shot or to see my other works before they go up on ao3!
> 
> <3


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